The World Knew: Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity An Exhibition about “One Man Who Tried to Stop ”

This exhibition illustrates Jan Karski's mission of courage during World War II, and his subsequent life and testimony. As an emissary for the , Jan Karski carried classified information from the Resistance on the ground in occupied to the Polish government-in- exile, first in France and later in England. One of his critical missions was to inform the Allies of the ongoing slaughter of the Jews in occupied Poland. In 1942, in disguise, he twice entered the Jewish Ghetto and later penetrated a Nazi transit camp to see Jews being herded to their deaths. With these eyewitness accounts, he traveled under an assumed identity to London and later to Washington where, in July 1943, he met for over one hour with President Roosevelt in the White House to inform him about the on-going genocide. Tragically, the Allies choose not to act on his report. After the war, he became a professor at 's School of Foreign Service where he taught many future leaders. His wartime memoir Story of a Secret State is a captivating account of his courage and integrity in the midst of unspeakable horror. One of the Foundation's goals is to make this book a "must read" in American classrooms.

Our 22-panel exhibition is graphically engaging, with its narrative supported by eye-catching period photos, correspondence and other primary source documents.

The exhibition was created by the Polish History Museum in Warsaw in cooperation with the Jan Karski Educational Foundation and sponsorship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information about scheduling, contact Wanda Urbanska at 919-706-5972 or [email protected]. To learn about the work of the Foundation, please visit www.jankarski.net.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.